SAR Fundamentals/Hazards
From PCSAR
Contents |
Subject
What is this lesson plan about?
This section is about making decisions around risky situations.
It builds on the understanding of hazards that the students have previously developed.
This section could potential by renamed "Handling Risk".
Authors
List who wrote this lesson plan.
Brett Wuth
Scope
What is included in this lesson, what's not and why.
- SAR Fundamentals Manual: Ch.8 "Problems Associated with Specific SAR Environments"
- Basic SAR Skills Manual:
- Ch.9 "Environmental Hazards in SAR"
- Ch.10 "Animal, Insect, Snake Hazards"
The above material is assigned readings. This lesson plan builds on it.
Prerequisites
What should students already know/have accomplished before the lesson is presented.
The students should already have completed the assigned reading.
Objectives
At the conclusion of this lesson the participants should be able to
- describe how to assess a hazard
- describe general strategies for dealing with risk
- identify common local hazards and risks
- describe prefered strategies to deal with common risks
Time Plan
Total Time: 30 minutes
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00:00 3 min |
Introduce topic title Introduce Instructor Present Objectives |
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00:03
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Local Hazards Lead a discussion of the hazards SAR workers might encounter in our area. Write on flip chart.' Some examples:
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Recognition Which are hazards you'd have known about before leaving the CP? Which are hazards you might only discover in the field? Circle examples
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Risk For one or more of the examples, discuss what the risk could be with the hazard. Might have to make the example more concrete with specific details. What are the worst case scenarios associated with the risk?
What is the likelihood of these consequences? Risk = Impact x Probability
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Benefit What are the consequences of not facing the hazard? Not your emergency. We don't have to face personal risks, like we would if was. A dead subject is no longer an emergency. Risk vs. Benefit
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Deciding We need you to do the opposite of what your body is telling you to do. Adrenaline poisoning
We need you to use your brain
Both you and your supervisor can decide the risk is too high for the benefit. Team in the field has the most detailed information about the hazard. Overhead team has big picture. Talk to your Team Leader. Talk to the Command Post.
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Strategies List the 4 categories
[Dorfman, Mark S. (2007). Introduction to Risk Management and Insurance (9 ed.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-224227-3. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_management#Potential_risk_treatments] Have students give examples of each category that bring out the sub strategies
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Other types of risks beside the hazards of the environment. Risks to the Subject
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Risks to others Our rescue techniques create new risks. Most technical rescues transform but do not eliminate the risk. They move it to an area where there shouldn't be exposure. By having untrained people or bystanders around, they may be exposed to risk. Example: Rope rescue uses the ropes to reduce risk of falling, but if there's an equipment failure people standing in an otherwise safe area may get swept over the cliff. Stay away unless specifically directed to help.
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Risk of making the Search Harder
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Legal Risks
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Specialty Teams What are some of the specialty teams that could be brought in? Use list of hazards from before
Which teams could be part of a SAR group? Which are outside the mandate of a SAR group?
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Doing it yourself Accepting the risk. Some SAR workers have unrecognized skills. We ask SAR workers to know how to improvise. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." "What you don't know, will kill you." The single greatest problem is that responders underestimate the hazard. [Search and Rescue Fundamentals manual, Page 102] Discuss with Team Leader and Command Post. Err on the side of caution.
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Common triggers At what point should you stop and evaluate the risk? Request specialty team. Ask for overhead decision. Review hazards identified earlier. Give your thoughts on those risks. Expand to include the following guidelines. general guidelines:
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Aids
What materials are needed or useful in presenting this lesson.
Question bank
List of questions suitable for an review/exam of this section.
See Question bank
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some of the questions that students typically ask. Include the answers.
Q: How should you respond if you encounter a wolverine?
A: Wolverines are 9-25 kg, max 32. They have been known to prey on animals as large as moose, but more often are carrion eaters. Don't disturb its kill. Give it a wide berth. If it's attacking you, presume it's prey behaviour and fight back.
Feedback
When has this lesson been presented. What was the feedback.
License
What can others do with this lesson?
Copyright © 2013, Brett Wuth.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 Canada License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ca/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Reference Material
If you need to cite sources, do so here.
[1]
Notes
Any additional notes, etc.
